Only Human
by Lizeth
Summary: Inuyasha and Shippou have never gotten along but when they get separated from the rest of the group after battle, cooperation becomes paramount. Inuyasha's hurt... a lot worse than he'd care to admit. Non-yaoi.


**Notes**: ARG! I know, I have other fics I need to finish but I couldn't get this idea out of my head. **waterfall tears* It was plaguing me day and night and not letting me concentrate on my essay... or my midterm. **sniff** 

Anyway, I actually haven't seen too much of the show, but I love it already... just forgive me if I get some terms or theories wrong. x_x 

**Summary**: Inuyasha and Shippou have never gotten along but when they get separated from the rest of the group after battle, cooperation becomes paramount. Inuyasha's hurt... a lot worse than he'd care to admit. Non-yaoi.   


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**Only Human**   
By Lizeth Hallington   
ww w. angelfire.c om/anime2/loft1050 (take out the spaces) 

**Chapter 1: Rendered**

"Inuyasha! Look out!" Kagome yelled. 

The white-haired hanyou turned to find large, pointed vines speeding directly towards him and twisted away with a growl. Unfortunately, the demon had anticipated that and grabbed his legs with its vines. 

_Thwump!_ Inuyasha hissed as he felt a line of fire on his side. He'd been graised. 

"Fuck!" he exclaimed, furious, and shredded the vines with renewed vengeance. 

_Dammit!_ Inuyasha cursed, fangs barred. _This is taking too long! We need to find the root..._ It had started out as a routine shard hunt, tracking down a rumour about usual demon activity in a southern village. They'd just been setting up camp when they were attacked without apparent reason. 

Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Kiarra and Sango cutting vines left and right while Miroku did his best to protect Kagome without using his vortex. The risk of sucking in an ally by accident amongs the vines was too great to take. 

He slashed another group of vines with his sword. This was getting annoyingly redundant! 

...Wait ...Where was the little fox- 

"KAAAGGOOMMEEEE!" a high-pitched voice wailed, and the hanyou swerved to see the little fox demon wrapped in vines, dangling in the air. 

"Brat!" Inuyasha yelled. 

"Shippou-chan!" Kagome called and raised her bow. "Hold on!" 

"I don't... think that's... a problem," Shippou choked, wiggling frantically as the vines tightened. 

Kagome knocked an arrow frantically, and took aim. She couldn't afford to miss. _Please, please, please let this hit._

_THWOSH!_ An arrow released and stuck the base of the vines holding Shippou, lighting with an eerie glow as it seemed to disintegrate a patch of greenery. Shippou fell to the ground with a muffled thump, trying to wriggle out of the vines still wrapped around him. 

"Shippou!" the miko-in-training called. "Hurry, get over here!" 

Inuyasha was only vaguely aware of them, dropping instead to all fours and searching diligently. _Dammit all, where's the root?!_

Tuning out the general din, he brushed his fingers against the ground, ears prickling one way and another in a subconscious watch for danger. He dodged in reflex as a vine attempted to skewer him. 

_There!_ he grinned, sensing a vibration under the earth. His eyes lit tripumphantly. 

"I've got you now, you bastard!" the hanyou roared, and leaped, plunging the Tetsusaiga deep into the ground. The others watched warily as the vines all seemed to seize up suddenly, and then an ear piercing shriek filled the air. 

Out of the ground rose a creature caked in soil, bereft of distinguishable features. The vines around them thrashed in pain and the group stumbled as the ground was tossed underneath their feet, cracks forming in the suddenly fragile earth. 

"KAGOME!" Shippou yelled again, attracting everyone's attention. The little fox demon was still trying to untangle himself from dead vines, sliding closer and closer to the edge of the cliff as the earth shook. 

"Shippou!" was the simultaneous cry from four throats and Sango, being the closest, dashed in an attempt to reach the child. The ground tossed again, violently, and the demon huntress lost her footing, one leg caught in a crack. 

Kagome watched in horror as the little kit rolled out of her sight. "No!" 

"INUYASHA!" the falling child shrieked frantically, calling for the one who had always saved him when he needed it the most. 

The others saw a blur of white and red before Inuyasha, too, was gone.   


* * *

"INUYASHA!" Shippou shrieked fearfully as the wind whipped past him painfully. _I don't want to die. Please, I don't want to die._ The child thought frantically. The afterlife was still a big, blank uncertainly for him and he didn't want to face it yet. The end of everything he was? He wasn't ready! _'Tou-san!! Help me!_

"Got'cha!" a rough voice announced, and Shippou opened his eyes to meet determined amber ones. 

"I-Inuyasha?" 

"No, I'm Miyoga in disguise," came the flat retort. A slash and he was free of the vines, a careful arm wrapping around him instead. "Hang on," the older boy instructed. 

"To what?!" the little kit demanded, feeling bolder now that the hanyou was with him. 

Twirling Tetsusaiga around in his palm, Inuyasha jammed the blade into the cliffside, causing a flurry of sparks as the sword slashed into rock and earth. 

...and kept sliding. 

_Ch'kuso, no!_ the white-haired half-demon cursed, digging his feet into the cliffside as well. _I never thought there would come a day when I'd complain about the Tetsusaiga being too sharp!_

"Inuyash-!" he kit pointed frantically at the fast approaching ground. 

"Dammit, Shippou! Stop screaming in my ear!" 

_C'mon-!_ the half-demon ground his teeth together. 

He had his solution... but not the one he was hoping for. 

_TWANG!_ Abruptly, the Tetsusaiga detransformed and reassumed its uninspiring, dented form, hooking its dull teeth into the rocky soil with a vengence. Inuyasha's eyes widened in shock and surprise. _Oh shi-_

"_AAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGG!!!_" he cut himself off as they stopped sliding all too suddenly, a painfully audible _pop_ resounding as his shoulder dislocated. _Shitshitshitshitshit!_

Shippou squeaked. "Inuyasha?! Are you alright?" 

The hanyou drew a shuddering breath and let out a pained chuckle. "Stupid question, brat. Remind me never to save you again." 

"S-sorry..." the kit responded, wide-eyed. 

"Not as sorry as I am," came the whispered answer and the fox demon's hands clenched around the red material of Inuyasha's fire-rat outfit. 

"What do you mean?" Shippou asked uncertainly and then felt his stomach drop to his feet. 

Inuyasha was grimacing in pain... and his was losing his grip. 

The hanyou shook his head groggily, muscles straining unusually. _What the hell is wrong with me? I shouldn't be this weak..._ His fingers slipped again as a fine tremor ran through his body. The blood was pounding loudly in his ears. _...Couldn't... be..._

"Dog-boy!" Shippou yelled, pulling at his shirt. "Don't let go!" 

"Not my choice, brat," he hissed back, vision blurring alarmingly. 

"No! You have to hold on! I don't want to die!" 

Another tremor and Inuyasha's hand slipped entirely, clawing instead at loose rocks and soil. 

"WWWhhhhaaaaaaaaaa!!!" Shippou shut his eyes tight as the wind whipped by them. "I don't want to die!" 

Sluggishly, Inuyasha curled his body around the younger demon and twisted so he was underneath the boy. He would hit first. 

"You won't," the hanyou rasped determinedly, swimming in eternity. The little kit was his responsibily, his charge, and he didn't intend to fail- 

The breath was knocked painfully from his lungs and ice filled his eyes, his mouth... his veins. 

... 

...mmmh... 

...Who was that, screaming?   


* * *

"INUYASSSSSHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Kagome yelled frantically as two bodies hit the water and disappeared in a treacherous swirl of white. 

"Kagome-sama!" Miroku snapped, grabbing the girl by the arms as she leaned perilously close to the edge. "Kagome-sama, that's enough. We need to get down there and look for the two of them... No need to make it three. Kiarra can take us down, ne?" he turned to the feline, who mreowed an affirmative. 

Sango was already on the Kiarra's back. "They'll be fine, Kagome," the other girl assured, wiping at the dirt on her face. "For all their bickering, Inuyasha would never let anything happen to Shippou." 

"Inuyasha left the Tetsusaiga..." Kagome babbled, sounding bewildered. "He shouldn't- He needs to have the Tetsusaiga..." 

"We'll pick it up on the way," Sango replied as Kiarra walked forward. The demon huntress' ankle was twisted in an odd position and was starting to swell, Kagome suddenly noticed. 

"Sango-chan, your ankle-!" 

"It's nothing. We can set it once we get down there," Sango assured and held out her hand. "Come on." 

As Kagome clamoured up Kiarra's back, careful not to aggrevate Sango's ankle, Miroku turned to survey at the battle site once more. Plant demons were usually relatively tame. They didn't even like to move. So why...? 

His eyes narrowed. At the edge of the clearing was an odd black lance, totally out of place against the withering greenery of the Vine-demon. 

_What is that..._

"Miroku-sama?" Kagome asked, worriedly, watching the priest as he crouched low and stared at the offending weapon, face growing darker by the second. 

"We should hurry," he said suddenly, pulling out the lance and carrying it with him. "Inuyasha might be in more trouble than we first thought."   


* * *

The first thing Shippou was aware of was the sound of moving water and the smell of it in the air. The second thing he noticed was the unpleasant sensation of being wet and cold, and the sunlight that prickled his eyelids. With a groan, he tried to roll over... and found that he couldn't. 

_What the-?_ Shippou snapped his eyes open and winced as the light blared. That was when the memories came rushing back. _The cliff! I was fall- I'm alive?!_

The kit's eyes widened as he laughed, elated, flopping back to the ground. He was saved after all. _Stupid dog boy. That was scary!_

He tried to sit up and saw the reason for his immobility: there was an arm thrown over his chest. An arm covered in red cloth. Inuyasha's arm. 

"Oi!" the kit croaked, grinning faintly as he pushed at the offending limb. "Dog-breath, get your paws off me!" 

No movement. Silence. 

"Bah! This isn't funny you know!" the kit rambled, wiggling out of the hold. "Geez! You're such a jerk." 

Nothing. No movement. No sound. No 'Arg! Who're you calling a jerk, brat!'. 

...Why not? 

Shippou was starting to get nervous. "Inuyasha?" he asked timidly. Finially crawling out from under the arm, the fox child turned to face his rescuer and gasped. 

Inuyasha was pale as a ghost, his lips tinted a sickly blue. His eyes were closed tight, framed by lashes that were wet with crystal droplets of water. But that wasn't all. Not by a longshot. 

In the bright sunlight, the half-demon's hair was splayed out in tangles like an uneven halo, contrasting starkly with the red of the fire-rat suit and the paleness of his skin. 

Black. 

The hair was black.   


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**End Notes**: **cackles** OoooooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooo.... I'm seriously hoping you readers know enough of the series to realize what a black-haired Inuyasha means. ^_^ 

Review! Tell me what you think, please! 


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